Tears I Shed
by The Wanderer of Infinity
Summary: First Part of my Trilogy. Ichigo and Rukia discover the Negative Espada, a new power awakens, taking a price that could be two hard to pay. REVIEW!


Tears I Shed- Prelude to Saving You

Chapters- 10

Words- 13,675

I do not own Bleach. Why??? ~DX

I also don't own any of the song lyrics or the movie quote, but I own the corny haikus and poems.

First caution- This is a good story, but if you are an IchiHime fan, you might not enjoy this story much. It has a lot of IchiRuki elements…

Second caution- You will probably not finish this story in one sitting unless you really have all the time in the world. If so, be sure to recline a little in your computer chair, get a cozy blanket, make a bowl of some snack, listen to random Bleach themes while reading (my recommendations are Will of the Heart by Shiro Sagisu, Going Home by Shiro Sagisu, Here to Stay by Shiro Sagisu, Life is Like a Boat by Yui, and Chu-Bara by Kelun. Be sure to play the ones like Will of the Heart during a sad part and nice ones like Going Home and Life is Like a boat during fluff rants.), and be sure to have a box of tissues at the ready when you read chapter ten. Trust me.

This introduction has everything, action, funniness, memories, drama so horribly wonderful you might cry, and so much fluff it's probably a whole bag of cotton balls! XD~

It is also part 1 of a trilogy, so please, read on!!! Tell your friends about the Individual Thoughts trilogy (this one)! I really think Kubo should hear about this story because it could kick start a good arc, because I am sick of all those damn fillers. o.o~

Also, if you are a diehard Rukia fan, in this trilogy she is the protagonist, not Ichigo (you'll see why later DX).

This story is very sad. I was bored, and this came out, and it's actually pretty excellent.

Well, it might not seem too sad at first, more funny and packed with action, but hey; the best things in life happen later (I'm not too sure about that, I just made that up XD)…

(Oh, this introduction is so long, but the main stories will be WAY longer.)

Enjoy! Rate, comment, share, and even flame if you have to!– fanatic99

_1_

_And that was the day that I promised,_

_I'd never sing of love,_

_If it does not exist._

-The Only Exception, by Paramore

This was never supposed to happen.

She grasped her wrist tighter, staring at her bracelet, crying harder every second she saw the charm.

This was a nightmare. But she couldn't wake up.

* * *

"Ichigo," Rukia Kuchiki asked, looking at the paper in her lap. "What exactly is 'White Day' to you?"

Ichigo Kurosaki didn't look up from the computer screen as he answered. "Nothing, really. It's the Japanese equivalent to Valentine's Day, only the guys give the girls chocolate."He blasted another zombie's head off.

"Oh," Rukia murmured. "The girls at school were freaking out about it yesterday. I was just wondering."

It was raining outside, and it was a day where there was nothing to do but stay at home.

"What month is your favorite?" Rukia asked Ichigo.

"July," Ichigo replied. 570,453 points!

"Oh," Rukia murmured, checking the magazine next to her once more.

She scribbled down the answer.

"What do you think you would like in a romantic relationship, more importantly, kissing?" she inquired.

Ichigo looked up, his eyes wide. "What did you say?"

"Got it," she replied, scribbling quickly on her paper.

He stopped his game and rushed to look at what she was doing.

"Is he the guy for you? The test that can tell you all?" he read. "Is this a TeenLove magazine?'

Rukia nodded. "A bunch of girls at school asked me to do this test on you with their answers," she explained. "All of them got answers that completely contrasted to yours. The results are… quite surprising."

She shifted and stared at him. "I have one question left," she said. "Do you like the rain?"

Ichigo stopped fussing at the magazine. He became very serious all of a sudden.

"No. I absolutely hate it."

Rukia's eyes tweaked awkwardly. "That's strange…" she murmured.

She motioned Ichigo to come closer so she could show him the sheet of paper she had been scribbling on.

"I decided to add my answers in for fun, but… all of your answers are the same as mine," she explained. "According to the magazine, that means… well, you know…" she paused.

Ichigo took the paper.

What is White Day to you?

Heaven B. Nirvana C. I Don't Care

Girls- A Me-c Ichigo-C

What is your favorite month?

Sometime in Spring B. Sometime in the Summer C. Any month in Winter

Girls- C and A Me-B Ichigo-B

What do you want in a romantic relationship with a lot of kissing?

Love and compassion B. All the love and devotion C. I couldn't think I'd want one!  
Girls- A and B Me-C Ichigo-C (I think…)

Do you love the rain?

Absolutely! . C. No!

Girls-A Me-C Ichigo- C

0 Same Answers- Sorry… he's not the one.

1 Same Answer- Just Friends

2 Same Answers- Good Friends

3 Same Answers- Best friend, but not Boyfriend

4 Same Answers- He's the guy for you!

Ichigo stared. "Why don't you like the rain?" he asked.

"Hisana left me in the rain," Rukia sighed, looking out the window at the downpour.

"Oh," Ichigo said, his anger subsiding.

Rukia tried not to smile. "It was just a test in some magazine," she reasoned. "It probably isn't right."

There was a long pause.

"You're right," Ichigo concluded. "Your true feelings about a person determine this, not some test."

"Y-yeah," Rukia whispered.

She took one last look at the paper, and then crumpled it and threw it into Ichigo's trash can. "Done and done." She almost felt a sting when it hit the bottom of the trash can.

2

_I just can't make you love me,_

_And it burns my heart_

_That you would feel the blame._

_Oh, I just can't make you love me,_

_So hold me like you mean it,_

_And I'll pretend to feel it_

_One last time._

-I Just Can't Make You Love Me

"I have some questions to ask you now, too," Ichigo moaned. "I forgot I had to do this homework… and I wasn't paying attention in class."

He pulled out a textbook and paper, and sat himself down next to Rukia on his bed.

After a few questions, Rukia realized something.

"You used to yell at me for sitting on your bed," she noted. "Now, you don't… seem to mind at all."

Ichigo smirked. "I went to Soul Society to save your butt. What would be the point if would just end up yelling at you for being near me?"

Rukia nodded and tried to get back to work, but the thought clouded her head.

_4 Same Answers- He's the guy for you!_

"So," Ichigo said. "In the story you have just read, what do you think the princess felt the prince really felt for her?" he scrunched up his face. "Duh! The princess obviously thought he loved her, but deep in his heart, she knew he loved the farm girl!"

Rukia stared at him for a while. "Yeah… you're right." She felt weird sitting next to the orange-haired boy all of a sudden.

Ichigo nodded and moved on. "What are your thoughts on forms of romance? Err… I don't know…"

"I think I know a good thing to put," Rukia blurted.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked, staring at her. His amber eyes made her feel uneasy.

"Err, I think that romance is just a way of expressing true feelings for a person, and it can be expressed in any way…" she paused. "There are sometimes when two un-expecting individuals have expressed romance without knowing it."

There was silence.

Ichigo looked expressionless. "That was…" Wonderful? Spot on?

"…corny."

Rukia felt the heat rise to her cheeks. She punched him and watched as he fell onto the ground, cringing.

"Shut up!" Rukia scowled.

"Oof," Ichigo wheezed, hitting the floor with a thump. "Why are you such a violent midget?!"

Rukia kicked his stomach. "Argh!" she exclaimed. "Why are you such a jerk? It's your homework!"

Ichigo's veins popped out of his head. "That's it!" he mumbled, knocking her down by kicking her leg.

"You're right on that," she scowled, leaping onto him.

Rukia and Ichigo rolled on the floor, wrestling each other with all their might.

"Y-you little, violent, not-pretty-at-all vertically challenged midget!" scowled Ichigo.

"You overly tall, orange haired, jerk of a strawberry!" yelled Rukia.

All of a sudden the orange haired boy's strength rose at almost 200% and he pinned Rukia to his closet door, holding her shoulders, but gently. She was still pushing at his chest, but it was useless.

"I win," he grinned.

Rukia's mouth gaped open. Since when was he so strong?

She remembered. She remembered how he always said, _"I learnt all I know trying to save you… I became who I am today because of you."_

"Ichigo," she teased, putting her hands down from his chest and pinching his cheeks like she would a five year old. "You're growing up, eh?"

Ichigo was confused and annoyed. Why the sudden change in attitude? Women and their mood swings.

Rukia touched his cheek gently. "I'm sorry I punched you, okay?"

Ichigo nodded, turning his head to hide the fact that he was turning into an actual strawberry's color.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. It was none other than Isshin Kurosaki, holding two glasses of iced tea (which one he abruptly dropped).

Ichigo and Rukia were in a position that was very awkward for him to see, especially because it involved a female and his son.

Ichigo quickly pulled his hands away from Rukia's shoulders as her hand fell from his cheek.

"I-Ichigo," Isshin stammered. "Rukia-chan…"

"This never happened!" they cried in unison.

"That was…" Isshin looked dead serious. The two fell quiet from protest.

Ichigo twiddled his thumbs anxiety.

"That was… the cutest thing I have ever seen!" he cried. Idiot dad.

"Sorry for the mess on the floor with the iced tea!" Isshin called. "I'll leave you two for social bonding!"

The door closed slowly. Ichigo and Rukia both stared at the door in anxiety. They both knew very well that Isshin and Yuzu were hunched over, listening to them through glasses on the door.

Rukia gave Ichigo a painful shove. "Idiot," she muttered. "Your father has the wrong idea now!"

Ichigo remained silent. He gave Rukia a little punch back, and then sighed. "How can I make up for it?" he asked, glumly.

"Well," Rukia said, looking at her feet. "A heartwarming gesture of obvious thoughtful caring would be nice."

Ichigo had a good idea on what to do, but there was no way he could do it. What if she hit him for it?

There was silence.

"Fine then," Rukia huffed. "Be like that!" she rose to stand.

Ichigo suddenly came forward and gave her a partial hug with his left arm, twisted awkwardly. They stood there in silence.

Rukia's eyes fluttered open as she felt herself accidentally release a strange reiatsu.

* * *

"Whoa," Ukitake mumbled. He looked up from his cup of tea.

"I felt that reiatsu too," Byakuya Kuchiki said.

The Captain meeting was unusually quiet.

"That reiatsu…" Commander Yamamoto. "It is very… familiar."

* * *

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked, quietly. She felt his warmth, and his heartbeat. Her arms slowly wrapped around him.

She had never felt this sort of sensation before. The warmth spread through her body, rushing through her blood. Rukia felt her reiatsu burst, like fireworks.

What was it?

There was silence. Rukia didn't know what to think, in Ichigo's arms (well, arm), her cheek buried in his chest.

"Erm, I'm…" Ichigo was not sure what to say next. "I'm… sorry?"

Rukia half smiled and partly frowned and hugged him a little harder. No one had hugged her like this before- well Kaien did, before he died, but… this felt… awkward.

"When I said 'a heartwarming gesture of obvious thoughtful caring', I was talking about a handshake, but this will do just fine." She stammered. "Apology accepted…"

"Good," Ichigo mumbled. He felt a little weird holding Rukia of all people, because he never really hugged anyone outside his family.

It was then her phone went off. That changed everything.

3

_As I lay in bed_

_Thinking of thoughts, thinking of life_

_I can't help but cry_

_Because I remember_

Ichigo immediately let go of her and she checked what was going on.

"Three hollows," she said, sternly. "Not far from here. Let's go."

They both pulled out their Soul Candy- Pyon for Rukia and Kon for Ichigo.

They were both in their shinigami form in 5 seconds flat.

Pyon was smiling from the second she was in Rukia's gigai, and Kon was delighted to see that there was a completely idiotic soul in Rukia's body.

"NO!" Ichigo yelled sternly to Kon, who already had tried wrapping his arms around Pyon. "If I find out you… 'defaced' Rukia's 'property', I will stick your soul pill into a pink bunny plush!"

"But what if Pyon tries 'defacing' your property?" asked Kon in his defense.

"Pyon is not an idiot," Rukia assured Ichigo. "I tried her to beat up any guy who tried touching her- unless it's a shinigami."

Ichigo turned red. Kon was such a pervert, and he really didn't want to leave him with Pyon in his bedroom, especially since he dad got the wrong idea.

"Hello?" Rukia knocked his head to get him back to reality. "There are hollows waiting!"

"Y-yeah," he murmured, and then jumped out the window onto the street.

As they ran to the hollows' location, Ichigo couldn't help but stare at Sode no Shirayuki. It was so beautiful, so elegantly white, like ivory.

Whereas, he thought of his own sword, Getsuga Zangetsu. It was so black, like the night, so dark.

White and black. Yin and yang.

They were clearly opposite.

Suddenly, thoughts about his fourth grade teacher's joke came to him.

_Ichigo Kurosaki, aged 9, sat in his fourth grade, crossing his arms. "I still don't get why the two tops of the magnet aren't sticking together," he insisted. _

"_Remember, opposites attract, like these two magnets…" Mr. Hayashi smiled. "…and soon, you boys and girls!"_

_ "EWWWW!" _

_The class was obviously still in the phase in which the opposite sex had a force field around them._

But now half the class was currently dating.

Ichigo looked at Rukia.

Her hair was so dark, so black like ebony, contrasting so well to his bright, happy, orange hair.

_Opposites attract, Ichigo!_

"We're here," said Rukia. They were in a park, which was completely empty because of the empty rain.

There was no one there.

"What?"

Rukia tapped at her soul pager furiously. "Is this thing broken again?"

Ichigo shushed her. He felt strange.

"I feel it too," Rukia whispered.

Suddenly, Ichigo felt a strong reiatsu at his right. He swung out Zangetsu in a split second.

In front of him was an espada, his mask only covering his eyes… The smile beneath it was creepy, almost knowing. His hair was crimson, almost as red as Renji's, only it was spiked like Grimmjow's. Ichigo's eyes widened. An espada?!

4

_Cursed memories_

_They fill my head to the brim, _

_And I just overflow_

"So you are Kurosaki, eh?" he asked, the smile creeping even bigger. "You missed."

Ichigo swung Zangetsu into the espada's neck. He missed by an inch.

_He's fast, _Ichigo thought.

He turned around to find Rukia already fighting her own espada.

The espada fighting her seemed to notice Ichigo was there in a snap. Her head turned the whole 180 and stared at him.

"My name is Raphaellea Wanzuko," she smiled, crookedly. "Call me espada -3, if you please!"

The espada Ichigo had been fighting immediately appeared at -3's side. He grabbed Rukia's other arm, holding her threateningly.

"My name isn't really nice," he said. "Call me -2." His smile widened by the second.

Ichigo ran at them, furiously. "Let her go," he scowled.

These 'negative espadas' were really ticking him off. Who were they, and how did they get into the real Karakura town?!

-2 drew down his double bladed zanpakutou. "Consrict, Orochizanko*!"

A long silver string shot at Ichigo, unraveling quickly into a net. Ichigo used shunpo to get out of the way.

The silvery net wrapped around a soda machine, which spontaneously combusted into a puddle of water.

-2 smiled. "Die," he whispered.

* * *

-3 was trying to tie Rukia up.

Rukia resisted with all her force, kicking and biting and yelling, and she landed a kick, knocking -3 down.

Rukia stood up and drew Sode no Shirayuki. "First dance!" she yelled.

-3's eyes widened and she jumped to the side, avoiding an icy death by a millimeter.

"Pesky shinigami," -3 moaned. "He didn't say they would be this annoying!" she drew her zanpakutou, which was as red as blood.

"Breathe, Pyrowakizashi*!"

Red flame engulfed the ice beam, melting it instantaneously.

Rukia's eyes widened. "F-fire?!" Not good.

* * *

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo yelled.

It missed. By 5 meters.

Zangetsu was already in its true shikai, and he was losing. Clearly dark power wasn't working on -2, judging by the fact his cero was water.

-2 came up and slashed at Ichigo, who blocked it swiftly with his zanpakutou. Apparently, Rukia was having a little trouble with -3 herself. It was an unfair disadvantage- fire to ice.

"You know," said -2, smiling broader than before. "I can read your thoughts. Your brain is easier to infiltrate than Rukia Kuchiki's."

Ichigo gritted his teeth. "Like I care," he scowled, pulling Zangetsu up so swiftly he nicked -2's right cheek.

"You are too worried about her," said -2, dodging careless strikes from Ichigo. "You do know she is your superior, right?"

Ichigo suddenly kicked -2 in the knee, causing him to stumble, leaving him open. He took advantage and slashed -2's arm.

"Constrict, Orochizanko!"

Ichigo dodged the net yet again, watching a nearby tree turn into a puddle.

"Rukia is very complex," said -2, who suddenly appeared with Orochizanko a millimeter from Ichigo's neck. "Her inside and outside are very confused, sad, yet beautiful. That is your very opinion."

Ichigo used shunpo to get away from near death, pressing Zangetsu to the back of -2's head. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

"Cero! Recoil and retaliate, Orochizanko!"

Ichigo watched in shock as the silver zanpakutou's string suddenly multiplied and turned into a silver blanket, which absorbed Getsuga Tenshou like it was nothing.

Then it released the blast back towards Ichigo, almost slicing his left arm off.

The silver blanket rolled up back into the string.

"Ta-da!" said -2, cheerily. "Do you want to see Orochi's attack cero?"

Ichigo didn't reply. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Was there such a thing as bankai overload?

"Very well," -2 giggled (very unmanly, yes?). "Retaliate and recoil, Orochizanko!"

The long string was faster than ever. It wrapped itself around Ichigo's wrist, constricting all the blood.

Ichigo felt like his arm was about to pop out of its socket. He groaned and twisted as the string tightened itself even more.

Then all of a sudden, the entire silver blanket covered Ichigo's body, draining his energy away. Ichigo felt lightheaded, almost dead inside. He was bleeding out of his wrist and the always injured right corner of his forehead.

He almost closed his eyes.

"Second Dance!" Rukia called from outside. The ice shrapnel ripped at the blanket, almost tearing it to shreds.

Then it became a puddle at Ichigo's feet.

"Thanks, Rukia!" he managed to say before he charged at -2 in rage and frustration.

* * *

Rukia struggled against -3's flames. Every time she used a dance, Pyrowakizashi's flame melted it into oblivion. The rain didn't even seem to stop the flames.

"You know," -3 giggled, slashing at Rukia with lightning speed. "That you two are all the boss can talk about. It seems that you guys are on the hit list or something."

Rukia didn't reply. She knew very well that you shouldn't let your opponent get to you.

"You know also," -3 blabbed, not breaking a sweat. "Ichigo Kurosaki happens to be the most handsome substitute shinigami the Gotei 13 has had."

Rukia was too busy parrying blows to answer.

"And this substitute shinigami," -3 laughed, "Happens to feel… 'strongly' about a female shinigami in the Gotei 13, but also is good friends with a fellow tall human girl who seems to be crazy about him. Isn't that something? It's not hard to read Ichigo's mind to see his story."

Rukia nearly flinched at that.

"Oh! And you know…" -3 leaned in very close to Rukia, her green eyes twinkling mischievously. "That girl… 'She changed his world'."

"First Dance!" said Rukia, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. _They are all lies, _she reassured herself.

Were they?

The ice beam missed, of course, and Pyrowakizashi incinerated that, too.

"T-that's not fair!" Rukia stammered.

"Nothing is," -3 giggled, slashing at Rukia's neck in lightning speed.

Rukia blocked it, but in the process she got a long cut on her arm.

"Sorry about that," said -3. "I should have hit my mark to end it once and for all!"

Rukia quickly stabbed -3's leg, making her trip up. "Don't get so cocky," she whispered, then used shunpo to get into a tree nearby.

"That was mean!" called -3 after her, her voice edged with rage. "You need to be taught a lesson!"

"Cero! Inhale, Pyrowakizashi!" -3 rose her zanpakutou halfway up, then flicked it like a gun after shooting.

A huge circle of flame surrounded her. It shot into a pillar of fire, cycling around only -3.

Rukia cautiously jumped out of the tree.

"Supernova!"

The pillar of flame burst into millions of little fireballs, which took much effort to block Rukia found herself face first in the asphalt once it was over.

The sleeve of her left arm had caught on fire, and she rolled around to put it out. Phew.

"That was fun!" exclaimed -3. "I can't get tired of using that."

Rukia lay on the floor for a while, and then she disappeared into the thin air.

-3's eyebrows furrowed.

"Way of destruction, number 33! White Lightning!"

-3 felt a sharp shocking sensation, well everywhere. She fell to her knees, still sparking from the electricity.

"Headshot," murmured Rukia. "I get… 50 points."

-3 wasn't an idiot. She became pretty angry at that.

"Supernova!" -3 yelled, in the midst of her pain.

Rukia's eyes widened as the flame seemed to engulf her. She couldn't breathe as the flames surrounded her, getting closer and closer, sucking out all the oxygen.

"It's a weird sensation," -3 managed to wheeze. "But you'll get used to it in hell."

Rukia sank to her knees. What could she do now?

Then it hit her.

"First Dance!"

The pillar of ice fit smugly into the hollow pillar, trapping both Rukia and -3 inside it. Then it melted instantly, turning into water, extinguishing the flame and leaving Rukia free to breathe.

"You're a clever little shinigami," murmured -3.

Rukia stood and ran at -3, who was still gasping for air.

-3 looked up, her expression full of rage.

"That's it."

She brought up Pyrowakizashi, pointing it at Rukia's head.

"Supernova catapult!"

Rukia leaped out of the way as a ball of fire as hot as the sun flew past her head and into the sidewalk. It left even the concrete melted and charred.

Rukia's arm stung. She seemed to have dislocated the joint on her shoulder, and two of her fingers felt broken. Also, the space on her forehead just left of her bang was bruised and bleeding badly.

"Get ready to die," -3 whispered.

Rukia's thoughts raced as she tried to find out what to do next. She felt screwed.

She turned to face Ichigo, who was struggling with the water cero -2. Water…

Rukia stood up and yelled. "Ichigo! Let's switch!"

5

_I wonder all the time, if_

_Stars smile upon us._

_If so, why _

_Do they leave us_

_Those nights we need them_?

Ichigo turned his head. He was currently holding Orochizanko's silver blanket back from attacking him.

"Are you nuts? We're in the middle of fighting, we just can't 'switch'!"

"Shunpo, you idiot!" Rukia yelled as she dodged another supernova catapult. Then she looked into the sky, as if an answer would fall from it.

It hit him.

That was the perfect place.

Ichigo disappeared in a flash, leaving -2's blanket dropping to the ground. He furrowed his brow.

Suddenly Rukia herself disappeared, leaving -2 in the burned grass. "Huh?"

"Where are they?" asked -3 to -2.

-2's brow furrowed. "Dammit. That girl Kuchiki is not to be underestimated."

Then he felt it. A shadow cast upon him. One cast upon -3 as well.

"Look up!"

Ichigo and Rukia had used shunpo to land in the sky.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

"First Dance!"

The water around -2's feet started to shake. He jumped out of the way as it turned into a devastating pillar of ice.

Getsuga Tenshou almost hit -3, only she staggered out of the way only to get her left arm a bad cut.

This was going to be so much better.

* * *

Rukia smiled as she held up Sode no Shirayuki towards -2. "Do you see what is falling everywhere?"

-2 held up Orochizanko defensively. "I'm guessing rain."

"Sode no Shirayuki is the most beautiful zanpakutou in the Soul Society." Her eyes glistened in the rain. "And Sode no Shirayuki is an ice type. The rain just makes this easier."

-2 held Orochizanko, swiftly stabbing it into the concrete. "Constrict, Orochizanko!"

The silver string shot at Rukia. She stood there, steadfast and ready.

"First Dance!"

The silver string, composed entirely of water, froze instantly. -2's eyes narrowed.

"You know," Rukia said, suddenly appearing next to him. "Sometimes it not always strength that makes you win. You need to have a balance of tactic along with it."

She stabbed -2's left arm, coating Sode no Shirayuki with a coat of crimson.

"D-damn you," he muttered, holding Orochizanko up to her head. "Cero! Retaliate and recoil!"

Rukia's eyes widened as the silver string wrapped around her wrist. She struggled to get away, but its grip was too strong, draining the blood from her arm.

"Heh," -2 laughed. "It's over now."

He took Orochizanko and slashed Rukia's chest, giving her a long cut just below the ribs.

"Second Dance!" Rukia choked, holding Sode no Shirayuki at the string.

The sharp ice shards pierced the string, cutting it into a puddle.

9 pierced -2's espada armor, and blood ran down his chest. His eyes were widened in fear. One had hit his vital vein in his neck.

A long trickle of blood ran from Rukia's wrist to her elbow, not to mention she had cuts on her cheeks and calluses from burns in her hands, her dislocated shoulder and broken fingers, and the long cut on her torso.

…but it was over. -2 collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

She backed herself up against a tree, hoping Ichigo was alright.

* * *

Ichigo smiled as he slashed -3's left arm, leaving her out of breath again.

"Had enough? I hate hurting women."

-3's teeth gritted. "Inhale, Pyrowakizashi!"

The pillar of fire surrounded them, but Ichigo was quick enough to shunpo into the sky above it.

-3's eyes widened. "No!"

Ichigo laughed. "Yes… Getsuga Tenshou!"

The black slice travelled through the hollow pillar, leaving -3 almost trapped.

She wouldn't give up.

"Supernova!"

The pillar of fire once again burst, leaving Ichigo surprised. He was burned a couple times by little sparks of flame that were too small for him to notice.

Before he could land on his feet, he found his face in the concrete.

"YEEOOW!" he yelled.

-3 was suddenly on top of him, Pyrowakizashi pried in the small space in which his kimono covered the back of his neck. "Careless fool," she giggled.

Ichigo gritted his teeth. "I am not a fool."

He used shunpo to get in the sky above again. Zangetsu was drawn downwards, as to stab -3's head.

He never did stab her head, but he did get a nice chunk of her shoulder.

-3 collapsed, gasping for air.

"I win," Ichigo smiled.

Then he noticed Rukia, leaned up against a tree. He ran over then leaned at her side.

"Hey… you okay?" he asked, anxiously. Rukia looked broken.

"Yeah," Rukia murmured, struggling to get up. Halfway before she was on her feet, she stumbled backward and ended up on the ground. "Those espada were easy to fight. I don't need help."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, but he gave in. He scooped Rukia onto his back.

"You look really screwed. You need some rest."

Rukia's eyes closed as her cheek pressed against Ichigo's warm back of his neck. She felt safe again.

Ichigo smiled and turned around. -3 and -2's bodies were no longer there. What was there was at least a hundred hollows, surrounding and outnumbering them indefinitely.

"No way," Ichigo murmured.

Rukia tried to get off Ichigo's back to fight, but Ichigo held her back. "I'll try to take care of this…"

Turns out he didn't need to.

A blue reiatsu coated arrow zoomed past them, killing a dozen hollows in 3 seconds.

"Ishida! Inoue! Sado!"

6

_You know very well, that_

_I would die for you, without_

_Even a second thought_

Uryu Ishida stood there, his spirit bow smoking from the shot. "Kuchiki, Kurosaki… we all felt the strong reiatsu from here. We're here to help… now duck."

Another arrow shot out killing ten more hollow.

Orihime Inoue ran up to the hollows and cried, "Shunshun Rikka!"

Her hairpin burst into pieces. "Shunshun Rikka, Tsubaki, I reject!"

3 hollow blew up.

Sado Yatsutora powered up his arm. "El Brasso de Diablo!"

He punched 8 hollow into the atmosphere.

Ah, the benefits of having friends.

Ichigo drew backwards in the trees of the forest behind them, holding Rukia, who was on his back, far from the fighting. He could feel her grip loosening on the bunch of kimono she was clenching onto near his chest, and her breath turning more raggedy by the second.

Rukia groaned, shifting to get her face over Ichigo's shoulder.

"Ichigo…" she murmured. "Thank you…"

"Hey!" Ichigo whispered. "Don't black out on me…"

Rukia's eyes fluttered open and close. "I don't feel too good," she murmured. "I didn't imagine I would go down like this."

Ichigo shook her a little. "Hey! You are not dying! You know that I won't let you, no matter what you want!"

Rukia was silent for a second.

"Do… do you feel that reiatsu?"

Ichigo stopped stirring. He felt it.

"Well, you've noticed me," said a voice.

Ichigo turned around. There was nothing there, just darkness, the trees, and the rain.

He pivoted to turn around again and there was an espada in his face.

The espada was about as tall as Ichigo, with brown spiked hair just like his, and his mask covered only his two eyes and half his mouth. He almost was a full hollow.

"I've noticed you have great spiritual power. You are… special."

Ichigo used shunpo to get into a tree.

It almost seemed as if the espada could see things with some sort of peripheral vision from a mile away, because he was there in the tree seconds later.

"Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki," he whispered, a smile spreading on the half recognizable side of his mouth. "Very good friends, and so unlikely. Rukia, I must thank you right now… for awakening Ichigo's powers with your own."

Rukia's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"Ah," the espada grinned. "I am -1."

Ichigo didn't like his reiatsu. It felt… unnaturally powerful, almost as if it was mutated, tampered with. He used shunpo to get as far away from -1 as possible.

"So you've noticed my odd reiatsu," -1 called as Ichigo ran. "It takes a while to get used to… not a lot of espada have my sort of cero." He smiled. "Not a lot of shinigami have the reiatsu i'm looking for."

Then Ichigo and Rukia felt it. -1's reiatsu grew by 400%, but what was even more dangerous was the fact that his reiatsu had little parts that felt like Commander Yamamoto's reiatsu, Sosuke Aizen's reiatsu, and Ichigo's reiatsu itself.

"Ichigo," Rukia whispered, her breath growing thin. "I'm too heavy… you have to leave me behind… to get away."

"No way," Ichigo shot back, running and jumping through trees.

Suddenly, -1 appeared directly in front of him, smiling widely. "Why do you run? I only wish to talk to you."

Behind him were -2 and -3, without a single scratch. They had Pyrowakizashi and Orochizanko out, pointing them at Ichigo as if the zanpakutou were guns.

Ichigo gritted his teeth. "You… you can collect a little reiatsu from anything, but you cannot absorb all of it. Your reiatsu is a combination of different reiatsus and it grows stronger by stealing spiritual energy… that's despicable."

-1 smiled. "You're as I imagined being, Kurosaki. Good."

Then he disappeared into thin air, along with -2 and -3, leaving only three words.

"I'll be back."

Then out of nowhere, a slash that looked exactly like a white Getsuga Tenshou flew out of nowhere, speeding towards a surprised Ichigo.

Before Ichigo could take the hit, he felt his companion let go of his back and jump in front of him, taking the blow directly on her torso.

He watched his comrade, crushed; fall, her chest bleeding profoundly. Her eyes were empty, and her mouth gaped open as she hit the ground.

"RUKIA!"

He rushed towards her, and then pulled her gently into a sitting position, allowing her body to lean against his. Rukia's breath was raggedy and uneven, and her eyes were closing slowly.

"I guess that I'm not always the hopeless damsel in distress," Rukia wheezed, a small smile covering her face.

Ichigo held her on his lap as she had once done to him. "There is no way I'm letting you die."

Just then Orihime, Chad, and Uryu appeared among the trees. Ishida was gripping his arm, a long drip of blood streaming out his fingers, Chad's legs both had evident cuts on them, and Orihime had a small cut on her hand.

Orihime's eyes widened at the sight Rukia's broken body.

"Kuchiki…" whispered Ishida.

"Rukia… is she…" Chad said, and then stopped at the sight of Ichigo's face cloaked in rage.

Orihime ran over and started a healing barrier around Rukia, trying to close the dangerous cuts on her torso.

Ichigo stood up, leaving Rukia to be healed.

"-1…" he whispered. "…consider yourself killed."

_7_

_We stand at crossroads, hand in hand_

_And two paths stand before us_

_They are separate and winding_

_But we know_

_As we enter_

_We won't be alone_

"Hey," Ichigo called, pounding on the bathroom door. "I really need to pee! You've been in there for 45 minutes!"

"Well SOR-RY!" snapped Rukia from inside. "I just have to bandage up all these cuts I got, and you are just lucky that Inoue managed to get the chest wounds I took for you fixed, or I would still be here for hours!"

Ichigo's hands balled up into fists, but they uncurled.

_She took chest wounds for him._

"C'mon," he persisted, but less insistently. "You can finish your bandages in my room, and I promise I won't come in until you are done."

There was silence.

"Fine," Rukia murmured.

The door unlocked. Rukia walked out, clenching the First Aid kit to her chest with one hand and holding the unbuttoned sides of her shirt closed with the other.

Ichigo saw the number of bandages wrapped on her arms and the number wrapped around her chest and stomach, almost covering her torso like some twisted kind of undershirt. She looked better now, but she definitely was going to be sore at night.

Rukia went in his room and closed the door gently with a click. Ichigo didn't really need to go pee; he just wanted to check on her injuries.

_I don't think I can see Rukia like that again, _he thought. _I can't bear to see her like that; broken._

He sat himself on the toilet and stared at the bathroom mirror.

Ichigo hadn't gotten any cuts at all compared to Rukia's. He had a little cut on his forehead, true, but that was patched up in two seconds by a band aid.

_I hate guilt trips._

"Ichigo-niisama, why are you sitting on the toilet?"

Ichigo turned, shocked to see Karin staring at him, sipping at a glass of iced tea.

"W-what are you doing in here?" he asked, shooting up. "I didn't even hear you come inside!"

"Stealth and good timing are in the Kurosaki blood," she replied, shrugging.

Ichigo's fists balled up, but then he slumped down. "What do you want?"

Karin approached him, gesturing him to lean in as if she were going to tell him a secret.

"Are you thinking about Rukia-chan?"

Ichigo's eyes widened, almost as big as dinner plates. "NO!"

Karin smiled mischievously. "Wow. That's sounds very believable."

She walked out, finishing her glass of iced tea. "I just want you to know that Rukia-chan is thinking about you. I can feel it."

"Wha-?" Ichigo stammered.

He didn't bother to finish. He felt Karin's reiatsu rise slightly, and it was about as strong as a shingami cadet's. Whoa. Spiritual energy must've run in the Kurosaki blood too.

Ichigo shook his head, still registering the shock, and then stumbled into his room.

There he saw Rukia perched on his bed, wrapping her hand. Her shirt wasn't buttoned at all, but that wasn't a problem because her whole torso was wrapped with bandages.

Rukia felt herself turn red. "I- I told you not to come in until I was done, idiot!"

"S-sorry," Ichigo mumbled, turning around. He turned to leave.

Rukia sighed. "Wait."

Ichigo turned to face her. She buttoned up her shirt the whole way and stared right through him. Her violet eyes just stayed there, locking in with his amber ones. A little smile curved up her lips.

"R-Rukia," he mumbled, looking away. "You are making me feel… strange with that gaze."

"Come out, guys."

The figures of Renji Abarai, Toshiro Histugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, Madarame Ikkaku, and Nanao popped out from underneath Ichigo's bed.

"What?!" Ichigo stammered. "What are you guys doing here?

* * *

After a few introductions, Nanao explained.

"We won't be here for long," she said. "I was really the only shinigami who needed to come down here, but my captain insisted that I have a 'team of bodyguards'."

Renji rolled his eyes, and then took a good look at Rukia. "Whoa," he stammered. "You look…"

"Jacked up? I know," Rukia mumbled. "At least my face wasn't hurt that much, it would just ruin my attractiveness even more." She joked.

"Nah, you'd still look beautiful to me," Renji blurted. The whole room's eyes rested on the pineapple head, mainly Ichigo's eyes, which were narrowed so tight you couldn't see his pupils.

"Well then," Mastumoto said, clapping her hands together with a smile. "Now that that's over, Hitsugaya taichou, you have the floor!"

"As you heard," Hitsugaya muttered. "We were sent as bodyguards to Nanao. We are here to put in plain words what is up about -1."

"And if he shows up, we'll just he beat the crap out of him," Ikkaku cracked his knuckles.

"Any who," said Nanao, quite annoyed. "-1 is the second in command of a bunch of rebel espada in Hueco Mundo. He and the other negative espada turned against Sosuke Aizen a few months ago, refusing to be used as so called 'mindless fighting weapons'. He has a boss, though, who have not identified yet. Captain Mayuri gave me some more info."

Nanao pulled out a sheet of paper with all the details on -1. "His boss's plan seems to be to take over Hueco Mundo, contrasting to Aizen's plan to take over Soul Society. He still plans to throw the spiritual balance of the universe, and he constantly has been accused of kidnapping cadet shinigami."

"He is looking for someone in particular, though, someone who has the immeasurable power of changing the balance of everything. He has killed so many shinigami he suspected could be the one he is looking for."

Nanao pulled out a long list of names, "These are the people that were supposedly kidnapped. It seems that they disappear, and then we find their bodies almost always in 13 days, in random places in Soul Society, with no trace of any reiatsu. We suspect that -1 is sucking reiatsu in from many victims, in order to gather enough strength to rebel against Aizen."

"Is he on the top 10?" asked Rukia.

"No," Hitsugaya replied. "He isn't a big threat compared to other espada. We suspect he will be dead and gone by next month."

"But," Matsumoto pointed out. "We also want you guys to be careful. -1 has killed 34 shinigami cadets already."

"How can he kill then like that, just take them without leaving a trace?" Ichigo asked.

"Dark Soul Retrieval," Renji whispered. "It is the hollow equivalent of Konso. It is forbidden to be used, and even Aizen himself is honorable enough on not to use it."

"Unlike Konso, the Dark Soul Retrieval takes a while for the process to actually transfer you to Hueco Mundo forever." Ikkaku explained. "The number of days it takes depends on the number of people who have pieces of the victim's soul, not in literal sense, but basically the ones he held dear. There are almost always 13 people, and there have only been 3 instances in which the soul had less people or more."

Hitsugaya gestured for everybody to lean into a circle, as if he was telling them a deadly secret.

"All the Captains have to learn the Retrieval Days Soul Heart Cycle during training," he whispered.

_The first are the days of sorrow nigh,_

_ The first are the ones who loved him but died._

_ The next are the number of which he felled,_

_ Not humans but evils that opt to tell his tale._

_ Next is the number of ones he cared for much_

_ His family and his friends and all but such;_

_ And next the ones he opted to be near. _

_Lastly the one who holds his heart. _

_ He might have truly lived for her._

_ And thus the days of Retrieval might be over._

"Is 'The One He Might Have Truly Lived For' supposed to be something special?" asked Matsumoto, winking at Hitsugaya.

"Not necessarily," Hitsugaya murmured. "It usually only counts if the person cannot admit it to themselves."

"So, I guess now this 'warning' is settled," Nanao muttered, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "We can return to Soul Society, so I can pummel that Vice Captain Yachiru for using the Women Shinigami Committee's money to buy 300 pounds of chocolate!"

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Ichigo! Rukia-chan! Can I come in?"

Oh no. It was Isshin.

"Get under my bed," Ichigo hissed, shoving Renji into the little space.

The 5 shinigami scrambled underneath the cramped, disgusting abyss of the underneath of Ichigo's bed.

_Rukia, _Ichigo hissed in his thought. _Do something to look natural!_

_ Got it, _she thought back.

Ichigo immediately grabbed a book opened on his desk and sat himself on his bed, sitting casually. Rukia, however, couldn't find anything to do that was normal, so she decided to squeeze in closely to him and pretend to be reading the book as well.

"No, you stupid-" Ichigo managed stammered.

The door slammed open.

"Too late! I'm already in!" called Isshin.

He caught the sight of Rukia snuggled in close to his son, reading a book.

"Hey," Isshin stammered. "Is that 'Lover's Dream' you two are reading?!"

Ichigo peered to see the title of the book. Lover's Dream?!

"_Just shoot me," _he muttered.

"I am not reading with Ichigo," Rukia 'explained'. She pulled out a Shonen Manga magazine from under Ichigo's bottom. "I just had him hold my book for me when I looked for his Shonen magazine, which I noticed he was sitting on. That's why I'm near him."

"Oh," Isshin sighed. There was a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

Rukia and Ichigo heard some muffled laughs from Ikkaku, Matsumoto, and Renji. Rukia plastered a smile on her face and kicked her legs under the bed like a cute 5 year old, secretly busting Renji's nose with her heel.

"Anywho," Isshin smiled. "I decided to get all of us friendship bracelets!"

Isshin presented a chrome and black metal wristband to Ichigo, which was studded with spikes and skulls. He also gave Rukia a yellow bracelet, covered in bunny charm and heart charms.

"Hey," Ichigo exclaimed, narrowing his eyes at his metal wristband. "Why does mine have a heart in the middle?"

Amidst all the spikes and skull charms on it, there was a single, little purple heart charm in the middle.

"Just because," said Isshin, winking at his son. He lifted his own arm to show them his wristband had a picture of Masaki on it.

"Hearts represent caring, right?" he asked. He turned his arm to show his wristband was covered of hearts of all different colors and sizes. "Care a little, Ichigo."

With that, that idiotic dad walked out of the room, leaving Ichigo staring at the little heart on his wristband.

"Whatever," Ichigo sighed.

They sat in silence, looking at their wristbands.

Finally Rukia lifted the cover off the bed to check underneath, but there was no one there.

Ichigo felt a weird feeling in his gut.

"I need to go pee," he yelled, stumbling outside the room.

"Hey, don't hurt yourself!" Rukia called, joking. "I've been thinking and worrying about you too much, and falling down the stairs is as lame way to go!"

Ichigo paused.

_I've been thinking about you._

"Told you," Karin said, smirking as she walked by a stunned Ichigo on the stairs.

8

"_You have 5 smiles. One smile is when you when you think someone is an idiot. The__second one is when you think that some is really a big idiot. Another one is when you are laughing hard; the fourth is when you are so happy you can't help it. And the fifth smile is when… you look at me."_

_ Rosie-, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton_

On the Roof of Karakura High School

Ichigo looked up from his lunch. "What did you say?"

Keigo Asano picked up the water bottle and grinned mischievously. "Do you want to join us, Strawberry? We're playing truth or dare."

Ichigo had not noticed that there was a circle of girls and guys next to him. It was composed of Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue, the infamous Chizuru, Kojima Mizuiro, Uryu Ishida, Sado Yatsutora, Keigo Asano, and-

Rukia?!

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Why are you playing?"

_I thought this game would be a good earthly experiment, _Rukia thought to him.

Ichigo cracked his knuckles. "Fine, Keigo. Count me in, but no asking me perverted questions or I will bust your face."

He joined the circle, receiving glares from all the members.

"Spin!" Keigo exclaimed, spinning the bottle.

It landed on Orihime.

"So, truth or dare?" challenged Keigo, grinning from ear to ear.

"Erm, truth…" Orihime decided.

"Okay then," Keigo said, clapping his hands. "Have you ever fallen in love?"

Orihime's face registered shock. Everyone leaned in the midst of suspense.

"Uh…" she stammered. "Y-yes…"

Everyone's mouths gaped open except for Rukia's . Ishida just pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

_Duh… _Rukia thought, looking over at the tall orange haired boy, who was too busy staring at the sky to notice anything.

_Orihime, how'd you fall in love with this Strawberry?_

"You idiot," Chirzuru steamed. "You should have asked for specifics!"

"Too bad," Tatsuki murmured. "It's always could have, would have, should have, but also always didn't. Now give the bottle to Orihime."

Orihime cradled the bottle as if it was a baby, and then spun it gently. It landed on Ichigo.

Ichigo didn't notice. He was too busy staring at the clouds, because one of them was shaped strangely, like a skull and bones.

"Hey!" snapped Keigo. "It's your turn, Kurosaki!"

Ichigo looked at them in confusion. "Eh?"

"Truth or dare?" asked Tatsuki for Orihime.

"Dare," Ichigo said proudly. "No secrets for you guys."

Orihime thought for a second.

"I can't come up with anything," she said, blushing ever so slightly.

"Well then, I've got a good one!" said Tatsuki. She leaned over to whisper in Chizuru's ear, and Chizuru whispered it in Kojima's, then Keigo's, Chad's, and Ishida's.

"Whoa," said Kojima and Chad in unison.

"Nice one!" said Keigo. "Go for it, even though I don't completely approve of the last part!"

"Stupid adolescent games," Ishida murmured.

Ichigo shifted in uncertainty. "Well?"

Tatsuki pointed at him. "You are going to go and be locked in a utility closet with a person for five minutes. You are going to give us a detailed explanation of your time alone afterwards." She paused. "That person will be Rukia."

"Me?!" asked Rukia.

"Her?" Ichigo gasped.

They locked hard stares.

They both stood up and started yelling at each other.

"Just so you know; I don't want to be locked in a closet with you!" Ichigo yelled.

"Ditto!" Rukia fumed (but still in her 'cute school girl' voice). "And everything that could go on in there is strictly in your own personal bounds, is that clear?"

"It's as clear as glass," Ichigo yelled. "Bring it on!"

"Okay, time starts now." Tatsuk shoved the two of them into the waiting open utility closet just next to them.

It was dark and dusty inside, and there was only one light, flashing on and off in the stillness. Ichigo was pressed on a rack of gym towels, and Rukia was leaning on three boxes of printer paper.

"Ouch," she said, touching her side, which was pressed on a box corner.

"Ditto," Ichigo muttered.

They stared at each other. There was nothing but silence.

"It was a horrible idea to join the game," Rukia said angrily. "Now I'm locked in a closet with an overly tall…"

"… Orange haired, jerk of a strawberry," Ichigo sighed. "I know."

Rukia's expression froze. She smiled. "You remembered my insult?"

Ichigo looked at her smile. It wasn't a signature _you are an idiot _smile, or a fake smile, or even the _this is a weird feeling of warmth_ smile. It was a genuine _you are funny, you idiot _smile.

No. it was a _I love being around you, because of your idiotically colored hair, overly serious attitude, and dumb name _smile.

It was an _I love everything about you _smile.

"Of course I did, you violent, not-pretty-at-all, vertically challenged midget," he smiled back.

There was silence.

* * *

"I bet you they are Strawberry-Short-Caking right now." Keigo giggled from outside the door. "Get it? Ichigo means strawberry, and Rukia is relatively short, and caking is another term for…."

"We get it," hissed Tatsuki, pressing the glass harder on the door. "I can't hear anything in there!"

Orihime sighed.

* * *

Ichigo looked up. What to do?

He got a glance at Rukia's charm bracelet. Hmm….

He took off the little heart on his own wristband and held it up.

"Where is my heart?" he asked, holding it for her to see.

"In your chest, in you," said Rukia, staring at the charm. The heart was the color of her eyes.

"What do these ugly bunnies represent?" Ichigo wondered.

"A little piece of me!" said Rukia defensively.

Ichigo gently took her hand and took off a bunny charm. He put his own little heart in the slot, and then put the little bunny on his own wristband.

"Now I have a little piece of you wherever I go," he said, very his tone very un-Ichigo- like. "And you have my heart just in case something happens to me."

"…"

"I know it's cheesy," Ichigo murmured. "Just… take it."

Rukia stared at him for a while, looking deep into his yellowish brown eyes, so deep and intricate to navigate through to find his feelings.

She shook her head. _Don't do that! _She scolded herself.

_But… he was just like Kaien…_

Her head accidentally hit the shelf behind her, causing a box to tip over and land right on her head.

"OWIE!"

Rukia shifted forward in pain. She accidentally went a little too forward, only inches from the orange haired boy's face.

Her eyes were in level with his lips. Why was he so tall? Rukia shifted nervously, looking up as if she didn't notice him. However, his lips seemed to come down, closer and closer towards her. It felt as it was in slow mo.

His lips were a centimeter from her's. Her heart sped up a million times more than before.

Her reiatsu sparked again, making her turn redder. The feeling started again.

OMG OMG OMG OMG

"You dropped your phone," Ichigo pointed out, lifting his hand from her shoulder to bite a hangnail from his thumb.

Rukia sighed. What a relief.

She picked up her phone and clumsily stumbled to the opposite corner of the room, farthest away from him.

Sweat trickled down her forehead. The pressure had been so intense.

_I am 126 years old, _she thought, embarrassed. _I'm_ _over a century old, and still I haven't kissed yet._

She closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't plan to, either." She mumbled, trying to brush the awkward feeling away.

The door of the utility room crept open.

"Time's up," said Tatsuki.

Ichigo and Rukia both stumbled out as quickly as possible. Before Tatsuki could ask what happened in there, the bell rang.

Ichigo stared at his wristband's new charm.

_A true piece of Rukia, _he thought. _It is also a true piece of crap._

He didn't realize what was about to happen.

9

_Tears run down my cheeks_

_Blood streams down yours, leaving traces_

_Of my inability to protect_

Captain Mayuri of the 12th division stumbled up the stairs of the Information Sector, gazing at multiple screens in disbelief.

"There's no way," he muttered, typing rapidly on the piano keyboard.

This was impossible. Not even Aizen accomplished such a feat. The information had to be incorrect, or even obsolete.

But this was the Information Sector. Everything had to be accurate.

The same message flashed on and off, as if to tease him.

"Captain!" called a shinigami from the back. "Is something wrong?"

"Get the commander," Captain Mayuri babbled, typing on the keyboard faster.

"What?" the shinigami asked, staring at him in disbelief.

"Never mind, I'll do it myself!" he yelled, running down the sector stairs and into the hallways.

This was not possible. It couldn't have been, because the Information Sector would have known about it.

"Captain Mayuri," a voice called from behind him.

The Captain turned to be face to face with Commander Yamamoto himself. Behind him were the other 12 captains.

"You will never believe what is happening!" Mayuri stammered.

"I already do," Yamamoto said softly. "You don't need to check the Information Sector if you can stare at the sky."

Mayuri looked up.

It was there.

* * *

Rukia felt the reiatsu as soon as she stepped off the sidewalk from school.

The pressure was so great that it made the air hard to breathe. Her eyes widened.

Ichigo felt it too. His heart almost skipped a beat.

"D-do… you think… it's…." Rukia stammered.

"I… don't know…" Ichigo whispered.

They both looked up.

There was a tear in the sky, like that of a Menos Grandes ripping it open. However, the rip was not intended for transport to the world of the living, but to the Soul Society itself.

"No…" Rukia whispered. She scrambled quickly in her bag and pulled out her Soul Candy.

Ichigo pulled out his Shinigami Deputy Badge. Both of them were in Shimigami form in a split second.

"The rip is still what I'd call 'small'," Rukia said stiffly. "We have to stop the hollows from coming out for now, and the Gotei 13 should come to aid."

Suddenly three hollows appeared in front of her. In one swift stroke of Sode no Shirayuki, they were gone.

"Let's go," she ordered.

Ichigo and Rukia immediately used shunpo to get into the sky. They dashed towards the rip, slaying hollows along the way. The rip slowly grew larger, revealing the hellhole of Hueco Mundo.

"These hollows…" Ichigo scowled, slicing one in half. "Why are they all coming here? They know that they will die."

"They are a mere distraction," Rukia explained. "They are trying to draw all the attention to these measly hollows when we should be concerned about the Negative Realm Fissure."

"The 'Negative Realm'? What is that?" Ichigo asked.

"Hueco Mundo can be split up into two regions," Rukia explained. "There is the main region, or La Heuco Mundo. The other region is way smaller. The Negative Realm is fabled to be a section of Hueco Mundo where the whole ground is being eaten away by negative spiritual energy, or kuroreiatsu*. Being exposed to it can induce hollowfication, or death. No one has stepped foot in the Negative Realm except for -1. The Soul Society suspects that is where his hideout is."

Ichigo nodded. "So when the negative espada are exposed to the kuroreiatsu , what happens?"

"Being negative espada, they are obsolete. They were too powerful, more powerful than Aizen could comprehend. He wasn't pleased with them at all, so they fled to the Negative Realm. It turns out that the negative espada are composed entirely of negative forces. They can absorb kuroreiatsu as a power source."

"How the hell do you know all this?" Ichigo asked.

"Phone updates," Rukia said.

The fissure grew larger and larger. Suddenly, a pillar of darkness shot through it, connecting to Soul Society like a bridge.

"How did the negative espada do this?" asked Ichigo.

"It's negative 1. He absorbed a variation of positive and negative reiatsus in order to be able to mix them into their very own kidou cannon." Rukia murmured. "Since it has kuroreiatsu, we can't touch it, and neither can Aizen's army."

As they approached the pillar, a familiar string of silver shot out. They both jumped out of the way, but Rukia got a bad nick on her cheek. If she had been a second late she would have gotten her head sliced off.

"Sore loser," Ichigo smirked, jumping higher to look over the pillar of darkness.

There was a multitude of negative espada in it. There were hundreds of them.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he fell to Rukia's side. They were so close to the pillar they could touch it, but there was no mistaking it.

"We can't do anything," Rukia choked, gazing at the connecting point of the pillar to Soul Society. "We have to do something!"

Ichigo looked at little tears formed in her eyes. "They'll be alright. They are the shinigami." He whispered.

They were dead wrong about not being able to get inside the pillar.

The string shot out again, followed by hundreds of blue ones. No matter where Rukia and Ichigo jumped, the string followed.

"Zangetsu!" Ichigo yelled, awakening his zanpakutou. He slashed at the strings.

Nothing happened. His sword bounced right off.

The strings had already wrapped around Rukia's left wrist, but not too hard with the intention to kill her.

"They… they want us to be in the pillar!" Rukia exclaimed. "They are trying to pull us in!"

Ichigo resisted the strings in every possible way, slashing at them uselessly and jumping around with shunpo. There was no effect to it.

Ichigo didn't notice what crept behind him.

The silver string shot out and wrapped around his torso, not allowing him to move his arms. The blue strings came soon after, wrapping around his limbs. The speed the blue string traveled was so fast that as they grazed his skin, deep cuts formed, making him bleed profusely.

"I-Ichigo!" Rukia cried.

She tried to get over to him, struggling with all her might. The blue string eventually got her too, wrapping her limbs as well.

Ichigo couldn't see very well. His eyesight was clouded by the blood that ran down a cut over his right eye.

Not that he could reach up and rub it away. His hand was already fully wrapped.

The strings quickly pulled the two of them into the pillar, sending them into the hellhole of the Negative Realm.

* * *

Commander Yamamoto killed yet another numberless negative espada. His blade was soaked in red.

"Commander!" it was the voice of Juushiro Ukitake.

He ran over, gasping for breath. He coughed blood into his hand and looked up. "We think that Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki have both been kidnapped and sent into the Negative Realm."

As the battle raged on, Yamamoto realized something.

"Cover me, Captain." Yamamoto whispered, sitting on the ground, arms outstretched in the direction of the pillar.

"Commander…" Ukitake whispered. He lifted his zanpakutou and followed orders.

Yamamoto had the outstanding ability to feel any reiatsu and use that power to find out where the soul might be.

His mind focused through the endless amount flowing through the pillar of darkness, clouding his concentration. The reiatsu was a disgusting cocktail of negative and positive energy, two forces that kept the universe in balance, but were never meant to be mixed.

His mind focused into the Negative Realm, and the kuroreiatsu was all he could sense. Yamamoto pressed on further, his eyes closed even tighter.

He felt it. He was surprised it wasn't Kurosaki's reiatsu, but he felt Rukia Kuchiki of the 13th division's reiatsu flow stronger and brighter than any other reiatsu he felt in there. She seemed like a lighthouse in the darkness.

The Commander's eyes flew open. He stood up and drew his zanpakutou. "Rukia Kuchiki's reiatsu is interesting. It seems as if it could repel any kuroreiatsu that comes in contact with her." He paused. "Could it be… that she has shirareiatsu*?"

Shirareiatsu was white reiatsu, so pure and full of light. It was the strongest positive reiatsu.

Ukitake nodded. "The first time I felt her strong shirareiatsu was when she was with Kurosaki on Earth a few days ago. She unleashed it unknowingly when the two of them were having an argument. At the end of it, her shirareiatsu sparked, giving away their location."

"The negative espada have targeted them," someone said from behind the two captains.

It was Byakuya Kuchiki.

"This whole assault on Soul Society was a trap. They just wanted to lure Rukia and Ichigo near enough to the dark soul pillar so they could drag them in the Negative Realm."

The shinigami around him stared as if he were crazy.

"They successfully break into Soul Society, and they are just going stop attacking now that they have Kuchiki and Kurosaki? I doubt it!" Ukitake smirked, blocking an attack from a negative espada.

"You better believe it," the espada grinned, disappearing into thin air.

All of the espada had disappeared. So had the pillar.

* * *

The Negative Kingdom was similar to Aizen's, but there was black everywhere. The lights shined an eerie green, and the flames that burned as lamps were all as crimson as blood.

Ichigo and Rukia were being pushed down the main hallway by 6 giant negative espada, their hands tied behind their backs, but their zanpakutous stayed at their sides.

Ichigo blinked several times, trying to clear the blood out of his eyes. It just made his vision worse.

He turned to face Rukia.

Rukia's eyes were closed. Loose bandages peeled from her face and her once closed cuts on her cheek were bleeding again.

"Rukia," Ichigo whispered.

The only sound was the footsteps of the espada behind them, and Rukia's unsteady breathing.

How could she manage to seem tormented even as she slept?

Finally they had reached the door. It was pulled open from the inside.

"Ah! Our guests of honor!" a voice announced.

The room was huge, with crimson flame lighting it every corner. There was a buffet of what seemed like blood in champagne glasses on each side, and as soon as the laughing negative espada got sight of the two prisoners, they brightened more. There were intricate gold patterns snaking the walls, gleaming off the black marble that formed the walls, floor, and ceiling.

It seemed like it was a twisted party.

In the very center of the room was a staircase, leading to a throne perched right beneath a chandelier.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the sight of who was perched on it, and he could hear Rukia shifting in revulsion.

-1 wore a long red trench coat, dark pants, and white gloves. He was smiling his sickening smile, laughed at the sight of the two shinigami.

"The boss will be pleased," -1 laughed, coming forward to squeeze Rukia's cheeks in a teasing way.

She was wide awake then, and her eyes narrowed at the sight of him.

"You disgust me," she spat.

"You know, you are cute." -1 said, coming in closer. "I sure hope we don't accidentally… assume it's you we are looking for."

He breath smelled like all the blood of the people Rukia had seen die. He was making her remember painful memories.

"Back off," Rukia whispered. "Please…"

"Get away from her!" Ichigo yelled in rage, suddenly jolting forward, trying to get to -1.

"Why, that's awfully rude, young man!" -1 smiled. "I don't know why you are so protective of her!"

He winked at Ichigo as if he knew and strode down the staircase past the guards.

"Do you know why you are here?" he asked, stepping onto the ground, unsmiling.

He didn't even give them time to reply.

"Do you know what shirareiatsu is?"

Heads shook.

"It is the strongest, most powerful positive reiatsu. It can repel kuroreiatsu."

"One of you has shirareiatsu." He said, starting to unbutton his coat. "As you know, we are composed entirely of kuroreiatsu. The only reason you both are still alive and not hollows is because one of you has shirareiatsu, the only thing that can falter our power and our mission."

"We must kill who has the shirareiatsu."

Ichigo and Rukia stopped struggling from their guards.

"You gave us your location one day when we felt the white spiritual pressure coming from none other than the Kurosaki Residence." -1 explained, smiling again.

Rukia's eyes widened.

"Shirareiatsu is awakened at the strangest of times, but hey! We went down to the world of the living to see if we could determine who had the power, but alas, nada, zip, zero."

-1 took off his coat, revealing his torso, covered in two straps of leather crisscrossing his chest. Each strap had four little pockets on them, each filled with daggers.

The coat fell from his waist, revealing his deadly zanpakutou. It was a short one, but it curved like a scythe.

"So you are both here because I am going to kill whoever of you has shirareitsu." He thought for a moment. "If you are aware the other has this shirareitasu, tell me and I will release you. If not, if I do manage to kill the right one of you, the other can go free. I couldn't care less."

-1's grin turned even more repulsive. "It's more likely that I won't spare anyone."

All the other espada were pressed on the walls. The throne had disappeared, and a long metal fence had come out of the ground, protecting them like a crowd.

The guards freed the two of them, running quickly to join the crowd of speculators.

The whole room had suddenly turned into a cage death match, with a crowd of crazed fans yelling for gore.

Ichigo and Rukia looked up at -1, who was lusting for blood. "It's time for the main event!"

10

_Your breath grows raspy,_

_Your eyes close, your skin turns cold._

_I whisper last goodbyes._

-1 put his hand on his sheathed zanpakutou's hilt.

"Covet, my zanpakutou."

Sakura blossoms lingered through the air, but they were crimson. Out of the blue, -1 disappeared.

"Senbonzakura."

Ichigo drew Zangetsu and quickly wiped the blood from his eyes.

"I have your back," Rukia whispered, pressing her back against his.

There was silence. All the speculators held their breath in anticipation.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. He realized what -1 was trying.

He grabbed Rukia's arm and flipped her over his head, helping her dodge a slice.

-1 suddenly appeared in the corner of the cage, his zanpakutou sheathed.

"Maybe you just aren't a ryota, Kurosaki." He grinned.

"That was the crappiest imitation of Byakuya Kuchiki's Flash Step I have seen in my life." Ichigo smirked.

"Ah!" -1 smiled. "So you recognize my moves, eh?" he scratched his chin. "Ah! I know." He met gaze with Rukia and smiled.

Ichigo and Rukia pulled backwards in caution.

"Covet!"

-1 lifted his zanpakutou out of its sheath and swung it over his head. Suddenly, it wasn't curved anymore. It was just straight and long.

"That zanpakutou…" Rukia whispered.

Her eyes widened.

"Is that Zaraki Kenpachi's zanpakutou?"

"Yes!" -1 smiled. "Well done! This sword happens to be one of my favorite, although it is seemingly nameless."

Ichigo stepped forward and frowned. "You know, fighting Kenpachi was a pain."

There was no witty reply on -1's end. He just charged forward, laughing manically just like the 11th division's captain himself. Ichigo charged forward as well, running at the yellow energy spewing from -1's body.

Rukia used shunpo to get unto the ceiling. She knew the damage Zangetsu vs. Nameless Zanpakutou could cause.

A white light flashed throughout the room, blinding everyone in it for a few seconds.

The black marble at the two opponents' feet had a huge crater in it, and the whole left side of the cage protecting the audience had burst open and killed every espada there.

Ichigo was holding Zangetsu down, kneeling, coughing blood. His right side of his kimono from his shoulder to upper waist was ripped off, and there was a dangerously deep cut in the center of it. -1 stood proudly and upright, not a single scratch on his skin.

"Well, that killed off half of the audience," -1 shrugged.

Rukia couldn't bear to see Ichigo injured there. She lifted Sode No Shirayuki as she fell to the ground.

"First Dance!"

The pillar of ice almost took -1 by surprise. Some ice encased his left shoulder as the pillar fell from the ground.

"What was that for?" he asked, frowning.

Rukia landed and quickly dodged an attack from the normal form of -1's zanpakutou.

"That was unnecessary," -1 smirked. "Don't interrupt a good fight unless you've got something worthwhile up your sleeve."

"Shut up!" Rukia yelled. She felt her muscle rise all of a sudden.

Rukia Kuchiki had shoved -1 all so hard he rammed into the metal enclosure behind him, leaving a dent and a squished negative espada's remains on the fancy wall.

Ichigo's eyes widened.

-1 stood up, his eyes narrowed.

"That was unexpected," he wheezed, dusting himself off as he stood. "Unfortunately it happened so quick I couldn't feel if it was shirareiatsu that powered your strength."

Rukia lifted Sode No Shirayuki higher. "Second Dance!"

The ice shards speckled the room, bouncing off the metal fences, impaling more of the now terrified negative espada audience.

"Benihime!" yelled -1.

The shield of red blood mist protected him for the shards.

Ichigo stood up and joined Rukia.

"Let's do this," he whispered. "Let's finish him off."

-1 smiled again as he put down his shield of blood mist.

"Kuchiki, you gave me a superb idea."

Rukia's eyes narrowed.

"However, this is so fun; I think I want to play a little more before I do it."

-1 disappeared again. Ichigo and Rukia closed their eyes and tried to feel -1's footsteps.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

The black flash appeared out of nowhere, speeding at them.

Ichigo ran and pulled Rukia away and they both fell to the ground, rolling.

"No way…" Ichigo whispered. He turned to face Rukia, who was dazed on the ground.

"You better believe it!" -1 laughed.

Ichigo sprung up and in a black flash, he was in bankai form.

"Let's do this, then."

Ichigo ran at -1, Zangetsu lifted over his head like a cleaving blade.

* * *

Rukia couldn't move. She tried pushing herself upright.

_Ow!_

Her shoulder that had gotten dislocated a few days earlier had shifted at the joint. Rukia winced in pain.

She looked up. Ichigo and -1 were in fierce combat, slashing rapidly at each other. It was an even match.

But Ichigo was bleeding.

Rukia closed her eyes and listened.

She heard his breath, short and raspy. She saw the beads of blood trickling down, well, everywhere.

Ichigo Kurosaki had lost his determination.

"The kuroreiatsu," Rukia whispered.

_Rukia's POV (Point Of View)_

Whenever I used to close my eyes and listen, I could hear Ichigo's confident heart beat. It stood steadfast, beating that unchanged beat.

His heart did not waver at the line in front of the enemy.

Ichigo Kurosaki was always sure he was going to win.

He wasn't wrong.

I felt myself tremble at the feeling.

Ichigo's heartbeat was quick and hesitant, beating every here and then. His confident smile was wiped off his face.

Ichigo Kurosaki was second guessing himself.

_"I'm here to save you." He said, smiling._

_ That smile of his never left my thoughts._

The kuroreiatsu was starting to eat away at him. It was piecing Ichigo's heart apart.

It was deteriorating who he was as a person.

"No," I whispered.

I felt myself rise amongst the heat of their battle.

Ichigo Kurosaki was not going to lose because he protected me.

If he does, I am going down with him.

I will fight by his side.

* * *

Ichigo fell back from his rapid slashing and paused to spit out a dangerously large amount of blood.

"D-dammit," Ichigo whispered.

-1 smiled. "Is that it, ryota? Maybe I won't need to use my little surprise."

"Shut up," Ichigo scowled.

Black pulsating force surrounded his face.

His hollow mask encased his face.

-1's smile disappeared. "You… are a vizard?"

"Damn right."

Zangetsu swung right at -1's neck.

-1 dodged quickly, leaving Hollow Ichigo slashing at him again.

Rukia ran as fast as she could. She had to stop this.

-1 lifted his sword so threateningly high and at an angle that it could slice Ichigo's torso right off his legs.

Rukia jumped in, holding Sode No Shirayuki out.

There was a sickening crunch.

Rukia looked down at her zanpakutou.

Its remains lay scattered on the floor.

"Rukia," Ichigo whispered, taking off his hollow mask.

-1 frowned. "I told you not to interfere, Kuchiki."

Rukia looked up; her eyes shining so bright it scared him.

"Third Dance."

The ice formed around Sode no Shirayuki's jagged tip. The zanpakutou pierced -1's neck, stabbing his vital veins.

Ichigo felt something was wrong. -1 was stabbed right? He was practically dead!

"Ouch," -1 said, looking up.

He took hold of Sode No Shirayuki and simply snapped it in half with one hand.

He drew the sword up to her forehead, smiling.

"Third Dance."

Rukia's eyes widened. Her eyes then closed, inviting death.

"NO!"

Ichigo pushed her back, shielding her.

Rukia rolled backwards to the very back of the cage. She looked up in fear...

_Rukia's POV_

All I could see was the flash of light. I quickened my pace.

"ICHIGO!"

Once the light faded it saw the sight that killed me inside.

Ichigo was lying on the floor. -1's Sode no Shirayuki pierced his chest. Crimson snaked up the white blade.

He was just about dead.

"Well, look at that," -1 smirked. "The shirareiatsu disappeared." He pulled out the sword.

Ichigo screamed.

My eyes were so covered in tears I couldn't see where I was running anymore.

I ran blindly, crying my eyes, my life, my every being out.

I sank to my knees next to him and held him tightly in my arms. I didn't care about the blood staining me, the world around me, or about myself.

Ichigo Kurosaki was dying because of me.

-1 said something smart, but I ignored him.

"Ichigo," I whispered, holding his head close to mine. I could feel his weak warm breath touch my cheeks.

"Rukia…" he whispered. "Don't blame yourself."

"I have to!" I screamed. "It's my entire fault! I hate myself!" I cried. "Why can't people just let me die? It's all I deserve!"

Ichigo's weak arms rolled up my back and held me as close as possible.

"Rukia," he whispered into my hair. "I don't want to leave either." He tried to laugh, but all that came out was a spurt of blood.

His skin was turning cold.

"Rukia… I won't regret being near you. You can't blame yourself. I want to be near you." He whispered. "You are the one person I would choose to be with in death. You're… the person who changed my world."

Ichigo loosened his grip on me and pulled me so that our foreheads were pressed against each other, so that I could stare into his closing eyes one last time.

"Don't leave me," I whispered, staring in his eyes. Sapphire met amber.

Ichigo Kurosaki smiled weakly.

"Rukia… I knew I could leave my heart with you."

Those words pierced my heart.

His eyes closed. His hands rolled off my back, limp.

"Ichigo…" I whispered, pleadingly. "Ichigo. Ichigo!"

"Ichigo!" I wailed, shaking his body, angrily.

I was angry at him, for wanting to protect me. I was angry at myself, for meeting him and ending his life.

I ended up just crying and shaking him and blaming myself.

I just wanted to feel his warmth again.

I looked down at my hands to pick up my zanpakutou. I considered seppuku.

What I saw surprised me.

My hand was transparent. I was disappearing from the Negative Realm, being sent back to Soul Society.

Ichigo's body fell out of my arms, right through me. I was really going to disappear.

-1 smiled and approached me, lifting his zanpakutou.

"He's not completely dead," -1 moaned. "Well… it's a shame a vizard like him could go to waste. Ah, what the heck!"

-1 pressed the hilt of his sword onto Ichigo's pale forehead. "Kurokonso."

"NO!" I screamed, trying to grab Ichigo's body back into my arms. I couldn't grasp anything.

"Ichigo!" I screamed again, trying desperately to wake him from his eternal slumber.

"Give me Ichigo, you bastard!"

"You have a good trip now," -1 said, saluting me. "Have fun!"

I couldn't bare this anymore.

_ I fell through the sky, landing right in the middle of Karakura town. It was dark, and night had fallen long ago. _

_ I didn't want to get up. I just lay there, sobbing, trying to remember him._

_ Like I would forget him. _

_ The rain fell around me. I didn't care. _

_ I heard footsteps come towards me._

_I twisted and looked up to see Urahara looking down on me._

_ "Pyon knows what happened. Kon does too."_

_ I didn't reply, I just looked away._

_ He pulled something out of his pocket and slid it on my wrist._

_ "Rukia, the two mod souls will take care of things here. Get to Soul Society." He paused. "You will get Ichigo back." _

_ There was silence. _

_ "You have thirteen days," He whispered. "Thirteen days to rescue the one who entrusted his heart to you."_

_ I brought my bloody arm up to my face and stared at my wrist._

_ The sapphire heart twinkled softly, reminding me of him._

_ "Ichigo will be saved."_

I just killed Ichi off. I can't stop flaming myself! DX~ You are probably wondering why I just left off there. Let's just remember this is part 1 of a trilogy.

Read on! I don't mind if you flame me for killing Ichigo off and tearing Rukia's heart apart. – fanatic99

Guide to Japanese Terms

White Day- The Japanese equivalent of Valentine's Day, only boys are the ones who give chocolate. Why can't we all celebrate it?

Orochizanko- Orochi means 'big snake' in Japanese (Orochimaru?). I called -2's zanpakutou Orochizanko because his silver string constricts victims… Is that lame?

Pyrowakizashi- 'Py' means fire in Mandarin (I know it's a weird reference, but being half Chinese I just found it easy to include this). A wakizashi is a feudal era short sword Samurai often used with their katana. It was commonly used for seppuku… ;-)

Kuroreiatsu- 'Kuro' means black in kanji. It is often used as a prefix in Japanese surnames, such as Kurosaki. Reiatsu, is, for you have forgotten, spiritual pressure. So Kuro and Reiatsu together roughly mean black spiritual pressure. It doesn't have to do much with negative energy, but I just put it that way.

Shirareiatsu- 'Shira' means white in kanji. It is often used as a prefix in Japanese surnames, like Shirayuki. You already read that reiatsu is spiritual pressure. Squish the two together and you have white spiritual pressure. Again it doesn't have to do anything with positive energy, so just flame me if you find this stupid.

Kurokonso- You know what Kuro means. Konso is, for those of you with the memory of a granny, the shinigami ritual of sending a soul into Soul Society by pressing the hilt of one's sword onto its forehead. So, as you would expect, Kuro and Konso together means black soul retrieval (In Chapter 7 I simply called it dark soul retrieval).

Japanese Numerical System, 1-15

Ichi-1 Ni-2 San-3 Chi-4 Go-5 Roku-6 Nana-7 Hachi-8 Kyu-9 Jyu-10

Jyu-Ichi-11 Jyu-Ni-2 Jyu-San-13 Jyu-Yon-14 Jyu-Go-15

Enjoy the rest of the trilogy more, knowing these terms!


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